Refrigerator

ABSTRACT

The present invention is characterized in that an ice maker is installed at a refrigerating chamber, an ice bank is installed at a door for a refrigerating chamber, and a cooling air duct extended along a wall surface of the refrigerating chamber and a shelf is positioned on an upper side of the ice bank so that a phenomenon that ice stored in the inside of an ice bank sticks to each other due to the melting of ice can be prevented.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This document relates to a refrigerator.

BACKGROUND ART

Generally, a refrigerator is home appliance for storing foods in a lowtemerature state to maintain them in a fresh state for a long time.

Specifically, the refrigerator comprises a refrigerating chambermaintained at a range of 1 to 4° C. to store foods such as vegetables ina fresh state and a freezing chamber maintained at −18° C. to storefoods such meat or fish in a frozen state.

Also, the refrigerator has a type wherein the freezing chamber ispositioned on an upper side of the refrigerating chamber, a type whereinthe freezing chamber is positioned on a lower side of the refrigeratingchamber, and a type wherein the freezing chamber and the refrigeratingchamber are provided to be adjacent left and right, according to aninstallation way.

Also, the refrigerator may be sorted into a side by side door typerefrigerator wherein a door is installed left and right, respectively,and a one swing door type refrigerator wherein a door is installed upand down, respectively.

Meanwhile, any one side of the refrigerating chamber or the freezingchamber is provided with an ice-maker for making ice and a container forstoring the made ice.

Concretely, when the ice maker and the container are positioned in thefreezing chamber, water stored in the ice maker is made into ice bymeans of a refrigerant passing through an evaporator, wherein the madeice is dropped to the container provided on a lower side of the icemaker and then stored therein.

On the other hand, in the case of some refrigerators, the ice maker isprovided in the refrigerating chamber and the container is provided inthe door of the refrigerating chamber. In this case, since therefrigerating chamber is maintained at temperature above zero, the icestored in the container is melted, making it possible to cause aphenomenon that the ice sticks to to each other.

In detail, when the ice sticks to each other due to the melting of ice,a problem of applying overload to an ice crusher provided in an insideof the container occurs. More specifically, when the overload is appliedto the ice crusher, a phenomenon that components such as a motor drivingthe ice crusher or a blade crushing ice are damaged occurs. As a result,a lifetime of the container is shorten, thereby causing a disadvantagethat additional cost consumed for repairing and replacing the componentsis not required.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

It is an object of the present invention to provide a refrigeratorcapable of maintaining ice stored in a container in a freezing statewithout the melting of ice.

Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide arefrigerator capable of preventing a damage of a ice crusher bypreventing a phenonmenon that the ice sticks to each other due to themelting of ice stored in the container.

Technical Solution

In order to accomplish the objects, there is provided a refrigeratoraccording to the present invention comprising: a main body having afreezing chamber, an evaporator provided at a rear of the freezingchamber, and a refrigerating chamber provided on an upper side of thefreezing chamber; a door opening and closing the refrigerating chamber;a shelf provided in the inside of the refrigerating chamber; an icemaker provided in the inside of the refrigerating chamber; a containerprovided at a rear surface of the door and storing ice therein; and acooling air duct whose one end is communicated with a space accomodatingthe evaporator and is extended along the rear surface of therefrigerating chamber and the shelf, and whose the other end ispositioned at a front end of the refrigerating chamber.

There is provided a refrigerator according to another aspect of thepresent invention comprising: a main body having a refrigerating chamberprovided on an upper side of a freezing chamber; a pair of doorsrotatably provided at a front surface of the refrigerating chamber; ashelf provided in the inside of the refrigerating chamber; an evaporatorprovided at lower side rear of the main body; a cooling air ductextended along the shelf to guide cooling air generated from theevaporator to the front of the refrigerating chamber; an ice makerprovided in an upper space of the refrigerating chamber and exposed tothe cooling air of the refrigerating chamber; and a container providedat a rear surface of the door for the refrigerating chamber in which theice maker is installed, so as to store the ice which is generated in anddropped from the ice maker, wherein the upper surface of the containerbeing opened to directly receive the cooling air discharged from thecooling air duct.

Advantageous Effects

With the refrigerator configured as above according to the presentinvention, although the container storing ice is provided at the doorfor the refrigerating chamber, it has an effect of preventing thephenomenon that the ice sticks to each to due to the melting of ice.

Furthermore, the present invention has an effect of preventing thephenomenon that overload is applied to the ice crusher provided in theinside of the container by preventing the phenomenon that the ice sticksto each to due to the melting of ice.

Also, the present invention has an effect of prventing the damage of thecomponents such as the motor driving the ice crusher and the bladecrushing ice by preventing the phenomenon that overload is applied tothe ice crusher. As a result, it has an advantage that the lifetime ofthe container is long so that additional cost consumed for repairing andreplacing the components is not required.

In addition, since an end portion of a cooling duct is provided at thefront of the refrigerating chamber, the present invention has an effectthat an air curtain is formed by the discharged cooling air.

Moreover, the present invention has an effect of lowering manufacturingcost of the refrigerator by using the cooling air supplied through theevaporator, without having a separate freezing maintaining apparatus forprventing the melting of ice stored in the inside of the containerexposed to the refrigerating chamber

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of a refrigerator according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a cooling air discharging structure of arefrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a structure of a ice maker provided in arefrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, concrete embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should beunderstood that the spirit of the present invention is limited toembodiments to be proposed and other retrogressive inventions or otherembodiments beloning to the scope of the present ivention can be easilyproposed by addition, modification, and deletion of other components.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a refrigerator according to an embodiment ofthe present invention, FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of arefrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention, andFIG. 3 is a schematic view of a cooling air discharging structure of arefrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the refrigerator according to the presentinvention will be described with reference to, as one preferredembodiment, a bottom freezer type wherein a refrigerating chamber isprovided on an upper side and a freezing chamber is provided on a lowerside.

Specifically, the refrigerator 10 according to one embodiment of thepresent invention comprises a main body 11 having a refrigeratingchamber 15 and a freezing chamber 16 provided on an upper side and alower side, respevtively, a door 12 for the refrigerating chamberopening and closing the refrigerating chamber 15, a door 13 for thefreezing chamber opening and closing the freezing chamber 16. In detail,the refrigerating chamber 15 and the freezing chamber 16 are separatedby a barrier 111.

Also, one side surface of a ceiling of the refrigerating chamber 15 isprovided with a ice maker 20 and a cooling duct 18 is extended alongwall and celing surfaces of the refrigerating chamber. And, the door 12for the refrigerating chamber is rotatably installed at front surfacesof the left and right of the main body 11, respectively. And, adispenser 14 capable of dispensing water and ice is installed at any onefront surface of the door 12 for the refrigerating chamber 12.

On the other hand, the door 13 for the freezing chambr is provided in adrawer form and a basket 19 storing frozen foods is detachably providedat a rear surface of the door 13 for the freezing chamber

In detail, both sides of a rear surface of the door 13 for the freezingchamber are provided with door frams extened backward. the side surfacesof the door frame and the freezing chamber 16 are connected by means ofa rail member. Therefore, the door 13 for the freezing chamber is drwanout in a horizontal direction by means of the rail member.

Also, the rear surface of the door 12 for the refrigerating chamberinstalled with the ice maker 20 is installed with an ice bank 12 storingice. Therefore, ice made in the ice maker 20 is deiced so that it isdropped to the ice bank 12.

Concretely, an upper surface of the ice bank 12 is opened and in thestate where the door 12 for the refrigerating chamber is closed, anopening part of the ice bank 12 is positioned at a lower portion of theice maker 20. And, ice can be made by directly supplying cooling air tothe ice maker 20 or by providng a separate refrigerant pipe. In thepresent embodiment, the ice maker 20 can be configured of a structurehaving the separate refrigerant pipe. And, in the case of the sturcturewhere the refrigerant pipe is provided in the ice maker 20, it has anadvantage in rapidly making ice when the ice maker 20 is exposed to thecooling air for the refrigerating chamber with a relatively hightemperature. Therefore, in the refrigerator with the struture where theice maker is provided in the refrigerating chamber, the ice makerprovided with the refrigerant pipe may be advantageous. The structureand operation of the ice maker 20 provided with the refrigerant pipewill be described in detail below with reference to the accomanyingdrawings.

On the other hand, in the case where the ice bank 12 is installed at thefreezing chamber 15 or the door 12 for the refrigerating chamber, whenconsidering characteristics of the refrigerating chamber 15 maintainedat temperature above zero, a phenonmenon that ice sticks to each otherdue to the melting of ice can be caused.

In order to solve such a problem, the inside of the ice bank 12 shouldbe always maintained at sub-zero temperature to prevent the melting ofice.

Hereinafter, a method for maintainting the inside of the ice bank 12 ata state where ice is not melted will be described in detail.

Also, the refrigerator 10 further comprises a compressor 32 installed ata bottom surface of the freezing chamber 16 to compress a refrigerant,an evaporator 31 installed at a rear of the freezing chamber 16 to formcooing air, and a blowing fan 30 supplying the cooling air formedthrough the evaporator 31 to the refrigerating chamber 51 and thefreezing chamber 16.

Furthermore, the refrigerator comprises a freezing duct 17 supplying thecooling air ventilated from the blowing fan 30 to the freezing chamber16 and a cooling duct 18 supplying the cooling air to the refrigeratingchamber 15. The freezing duct 17 and the cooling duct 18 may be definedby the cooling air duct.

In detail, the freezing duct 17 is provided with a plurality of coolingair holes for discharging the cooling air to the freezing chamber 16.Herein, the evaporator 31 and the blowing fan 30 are disposed in theinside of the freezing duct 17 as well as the evaporator 31 and theblowing fan 30 are disposed in a separate space of the main body 11. Thefreezing duct 17 connected to the freezing chamber 16 may be formedseparately.

Also, the cooling duct 18 is extended from a space accomodating theevaporator 31 and passes through the barrier 111 and then is connectedto the refrigerating chamber 15. Herein, the cooling duct 18 may have astructure that it is directly communicated with the space accomodatingthe evaporator 31 as well as a structure that it is branched from thefreezing duct 17.

With the structure as above, the ice made in the ice maker 20 installedat the ceiling of the refrigerating chamber 15 is separated so that itis dropped to the ice bank 12. Hereion, a guide extended from the icemaker 20 or the ice bank 12 may be provided so that the ice separatedfrom the ice maker 20 is safely dropped to the ice bank 12.

Concretely, the ice bank 12 is provided with a container 211 in acylinderical form whose upper portion is opened, an auger 212 providedat a lower side of the inside of the container to guide ice downward, acrusher 213 integrally connected to a lower end of the auger 212 tocrush the ice, a motor 214 driving the crusher 213, and a shaft 215connecting the motor 214 to the crusher 213 to transfer the rotatorypower of the motor.

Also, any one side of the ceiling portion of the refrigerating chamber15 is provided with the ice maker 20. In detail, the ice maker 20 isdisposed at the upper side of the ice bank 12 so that the discharged iceis directly dropped to the container 211 or it is configured to drop theice to the container 211 by means of the guide after the ice is dropped.

Meanwhile, the inside of the refrigerating chamber 15 is provided aplurality of shelves on which foods are safley seated. And, the coolingduct 18 is communicated with the space accomodating the evaporator 31,is raised along the wall surface of the refrigerating chamber 15, and isextended to the front of the refrigerating chamber 15 along the shelf112.

With the structure as above, at least a portion of the cooling airpassing through the evaporator 31 to be cooled at low temperature isdirectly discharged to the container 211, thereby preventing thephenomenon that the ice received in the inside of the container 211sticks to each other due to the melting of ice

Also, the door 12 for the refrigerating chamber is provided as a side byside door as shown. The door 13 for the freezing chamber may be providedin a drawer form, but is not limited thereto. Likewise, the door 13 forthe freezing chamber may be also provided as the side by side door.

On the other hand, in addition to the structure that the cooling duct 18extended to the container 211 of the ice bank 21 is extended along thebottom surface of the shelf 112 as shown, it may be extended along theupper or side surface of the shelf 112. In other words, the arrangementstructure of the cooling duct 18 can be properly determined according tothe installation position of the ice bank 21 provided to the door 12 forthe refrigerating chamber. And, the cooling duct 18 is extended from therear of the shelf end to the front end thereof, wherein its width may beequal to or smaller than a width of the cooling duct 18.

For example, when the ice bank 21 is installed at an one side edge ofthe door 12 for the refrigerating chamber 12, the cooling duct 18 can beextended along the side surface of the shelf 112.

Also, the end of the discharge side of the cooling duct 18 is formed tobe inclined at a predetermined angle so that the cooling air can bedischarged downward. This is to directly dicharge the cooling air to theinside of the container 211 of the ice banck 21. In other words, atleast a portion of the cooling air passing through the evaporator 31 tobe cooled at low temperature is directly discharged to the container211, thereby preventing the phenomenon that the ice received in theinside of the container 211 sticks to due to the melting of ice.

In addition, when the cooling air is discharged downward, an air curtaineffect can be obtained by means of the discharged cooling air so thatwhen the door for the refrigerating chamber is opened, an amount of thecooling air discharged to the outside can be reduced.

FIG. 4 schematically shows a structure of a ice maker provided in arefrigerator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the ice maker 20 provided in the refrigeratoraccording to the embodiment of the present invention comprises a tray201 storing water for making ice, a ice making pipe 40 extended to theinside of the tray 201, and a water supply apparatus for supplying waterto the tray 201.

In detail, the water supply apparatus comprises a water pail 42 storingwater, a pump 41 pumping the water in the inside of the water pail 42,and a water pipe 43. And, a dispenser connecting pipe 44 can be branchedfrom any one side of the water pipe 43 and a switching valve 45 isinstalled at the branch point to selectively control a flow direction ofwater. More specifically, the dispenser connecting pipe 44 is extendedto the dispenser so tha a user can dispense portable water. And, aratating axis 202 is extended to both sides of the tray 201. And, thewater pail 42 may be buried in the inside of the body 11 or provided atone side of the wall surface of the refrigerating chamber.

Further, the ice making pipe 40 is a pipe in which a portion of therefrigerant performing a refrigerant cycle flows. The pipe is curved andbent several times to form projecting parts 401 as shown. And, theprojecting part 401 may be formed at a length that can be submerged inwater supplied to the tray 201.

Briefly describing the ice making process of the ice maker 20 formingsuch a structure, portable water for making ice is first supplied froman outside water pipe to the water pail 42. And, when the ice makingprocess starts, the pump 41 is operated so that the water stored in thewater pail 42 is supplied to the tray 201. And, when the water suppliedto the tray 201 reaches a set water level, the supply of water stops andthe refrigerant in low temperature and low pressure flows in therefrigerant pipe 40. The refrigerant pipe 40 is formed in a structurethat a portion of the pipes configuring a freezing cycle is branched tobe extended the tray 201. In order words, the refrigerant pipe may beformed in a structure that it is branched from any point of the pipeconnected to an inlet side of the evaporator 31 to be extended to thetray 201. And, the refrigerant pipe 40 may be connected back to anoutlet side of the compressor 32.

On the other hand, in performing the ice making process, the ice makingshould be completed before the ice formed in the projection 401 contactsthe ice formed at the neighboring projection 401. And, water remainingin the tray 201 is removed. Herein, as a method of removing the remainwater, there may be a method of removing the remain water by a rotationof the tray 201 or a method of removing the remain water by a connectionof a separate drain pump. And, if the remain water is completed, thetray 201 is rotated at 180° and in this state, the ice from therefrigerant pipe 400 is deiced.

In detail, as a method of deicing the ice from the refrigerant pipe 400,there may be a method of flwoing a high temperature of refrigerant inthe refrigerant pipe 400 in the deicing process or a method of heatingthe refrigerant pipe 400 by attaching a heater to the surface of therefrigerant pipe 400.

With the process as described above, the deiced ice is directly droppedto the ice bank 21 or dropped thereto by means of the guide. And, theice dropped to the ice bank 21 is maintained at sub-zero temperature bymeans of the cooling air supplied from the cooling duct 18 or anauxiliary duct 28. In other words, the phenomenon that a lump of icestored in the ice bank 21 sticks to each other due to the melting of iceis prevented.

And, the ice maker 20 with the structure that the refrigerant pipe isextended to the inner space of the tray 201 can perform a rapid icemaking even when it is directly exposed to the cooling air for therefrigerating chamber. Therefore, a separate heat insulating wall orheat insulating case structure for preventing the ice maker 20 frombeing exposed to the cooling air for the refrigerating chamber is notneeded.

1. A refrigerator, comprising: a main body having a freezing chamber,anevaporator provided at a rear of the freezing chamber, and arefrigerating chamber provided on an upper side of the freezing chamber;a door opening and closing the refrigerating chamber; a shelf providedin the inside of the refrigerating chamber; an ice maker provided in theinside of the refrigerating chamber; a container provided at a rearsurface of the door and storing ice therein; and a cooling air ductwhose one end is communicated with a space accomodating the evaporatorand is extended along the rear surface of the refrigerating chamber andthe shelf, and whose the other end is positioned at a front end of therefrigerating chamber.
 2. The refrigerator according to claim 1, furthercomprising a partition wall partitioning the refrigerating chamber andthe freezing chamber, wherein the cooling air duct penetrates throughthe partition wall to be extended to the refrigerating chamber.
 3. Therefrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the cooling air duct isconfigured to have a width equal to or smaller than that of the shelf.4. The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein a discharge hole ofthe cooling air duct is positioned at a place at least equal to orhigher than an opening part of the container.
 5. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 1, wherein an end portion of a disharge side of thecooling air duct has a inclined surface that is inclined downward. 6.The refrigerator according to claim 1, wherein the ice maker comprises:a tray configured to receive water for making ice; and a refrigerantpipe extended to an inner space of the tray, wherein ice is directlygenerated on a surface of the refrigerant pipe.
 7. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 1, wherein the ice maker is installed at a ceilingsurface of the refrigerating chamber.
 8. A refrigerator, comprising: amain body having a refrigerating chamber provided on an upper side of afreezing chamber; a pair of doors rotatably provided at a front surfaceof the refrigerating chamber; a shelf provided in the inside of therefrigerating chamber; an evaporator provided at lower side rear of themain body; a cooling air duct extended along the shelf to guide coolingair generated from the evaporator to the front of the refrigeratingchamber; an ice maker provided in an upper space of the refrigeratingchamber and exposed to the cooling air of the refrigerating chamber; anda container provided at a rear surface of the door for the refrigeratingchamber in which the ice maker is installed, so as to store the icewhich is generated in and dropped from the ice maker, wherein the uppersurface of the container being opened to directly receive the coolingair discharged from the cooling air duct.
 9. The refrigerator accordingto claim 8, wherein the cooling air duct is installed at any one side ofupper, lower, and side surfaces of the shelf.
 10. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 8, wherein the cooling air duct is directlycommunicated with a space accomodating the evaporator or is branchedfrom a freezing duct connecting the evaporator to the freezing chamber.11. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein the ice makercomprises: a tray storing water therein; and a refrigerant pipe branchedfrom an inlet side of the evaporator, at least a portion thereof beingsubmerged in the water stored in the tray, wherein the ice is directlygenerated on a surface of the refrigerant pipe.
 12. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 8, further comprising a guide member being extendedfrom an upper side of the container or from the ice maker, so as toguide ice dropped from the ice maker to the inside of the container.